It's on the rear of the kayak actually. It makes the overall profile of the boat's waterline thicker closer to the bow, a shape that boat-builders refer to as "cod-headed" and which has been used to add speed to Adirondack guideboats for a hundred years.
This boat was $310 NEW. Look up Perception Acadia Scout. It's a junior model but I bought it when I weighed in at 185 lbs and it was fine.
I attached the keel using a pre-existing bolt hole that was molded into the plastic, and then stabilized it with 3 screws right into the hull- one through each of the metal straps, and one that you can't see that is countersunk up into the wood at the base of the keel extender to keep it from twisting.
stinkyattic Reviewed by stinkyattic on . Kayak upgrade Uh oh... a chick with a power drill and a hand plane :eek: I bought a pretty small, sluggish, kayak last year. It's a Perception Acadia Scout 10, originally built as a junior model, but fits me fine. I REALLY like its lines, and its light weight. But it doesn't track straight at ALL with an adult in it, so this is what I've done to fix that. I added a ~20" keel extender made of a piece of poplar that I carved and planed. Speed of a boat is dependent upon the ratio of its displacement to its Rating: 5